Jeb Bush's Latest Move toward a Presidential Run

January 7, 2015 AT 10:20 AM

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush and his supporters launched two new political action committees on Tuesday as he moves closer to a 2016 presidential campaign, underscoring his desire to get a head start on his potential rivals on both fundraising and organizing.

The official formation of the new leadership PAC Right to Rise, the plans for which were announced by Bush in December, will serve as a holding area for staff and a policy shop until Bush formally decides on whether to run. It will also serve as the focal point of Bush's political efforts, from commissioning polls and producing ads to making hires for his digital team.

The name of the PACs reflects the developing theme of Bush's possible campaign. An admirer of the late New York Republican Jack Kemp, whose politics revolved around poverty issues, Bush is hoping to cast himself as a new kind of Republican, in the Kemp mold, by touting his ideas on economic empowerment. (Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP's 2012 vice-presidential nominee, has frequently used the phrase "right to rise" in speeches, as Bush has noted.)